80- Fear of the unknown.

We were about to leave for the realm of the Olympian Gods, and Jeanne and Mordred would be the only ones left behind.

"It seems that I am the only one who is not excited about this..." Jeanne may train to become stronger like everyone else in order to not be left behind, but she is not a warrior.

Jeanne easily accepted not taking part in this, she lacks raw strength and the focus of her development is defense and support which is not suited for this kind of assault.

Mordred on the other hand was quite eager "Oi! How come I can't go, Father?" That's why she was so irritated when she was told she was too weak for this.

How could she not be annoyed when this was her chance to finally fight alongside Artoria against none other than Gods

She… was rejected before she could even start getting excited about it.

It was a funny thing to watch, almost like a parent who had grounded their child kept refusing to let him play with his friends, and Mordred reacted exactly like one.

Yes, Mordred is strong enough to fight most enemies, but Gods within their own domain are one of those she cannot defeat.

Even if Gods in DxD are significantly weaker than their FATE counterparts, they still have the power to face a Supreme-Rank Devil, and Mordred is far behind that rank, she can only deal with the weakest Satan-class for a while.

After all, Mordred lacks Artorias' weapons that are Divine Constructs, as well as her Divinity and all the knowledge and benefits she gained from the alternate versions of herself.

Actually, even I'm still unsure how I fare against Gods, but given how difficult it is to kill me, I'm confident in giving them a good fight at the least.

And winning or killing was never the point of this fight in the first place; it's more of a show of strength for those watching us, but that's also why we can't take them; we can't show any weakness.

"I get it, I get it! I'm not dumb! But still…" At least Mordred is a lot more clearhead and understood her strength well enough to accept it. "Why is this cow going then!? " She yelled while pointing at Jalter "Are you saying that she is stronger than me!? "

Unconsciously she was pointing at Jalter's chest so I couldn't just not tease her "She is indeed bigg- " I couldn't finish, I had to evade s blow from the angry looking Mordred.

And Jalter placing her arm below her chest making them seem bigger didn't help.

I laughed at her reaction, but Artoria decided to explain why and put an end to it. "Mordred, you are stronger than Jalter except... when facing a God," she said.

Mordred grunted in annoyance but she knew Artoria was right; she had also heard about the nasty thing that Jalter created to target the concept of 'Gods' whom she despises, she did so by exploiting part of her nature as Jeanne's copy;her Belief.

It's nasty stuff, something I never thought was possible: using belief, which Gods rely on almost as much as humans do on oxygen, against them, giving her an advantage when dealing with their kind.

And she will be using a fake body so there is no risk of her being injured or trapped.

"Like I said, I. get. it! " But that obviously didn't make her any less upset.

I understand how much Mordred has been looking up to do something like this with Artoria so... "Would a wish from me be enough? " And finally she nodded.

At least she gets to see her Father fight, and now a gift from Ahm… It's enough, barely.

And Thinking about how she can also extort some stuff from her Father using this did the rest for her.

…

After confirming that Artoria, Scathach, Kei, and Jalter are ready, I summoned my [Ink] and used it to surround us in a black sphere, which soon vanished into dark stains, revealing that the scenery around us had changed.

"It's... beautiful " Kei said, and the rest nodded.

Gods live in their own pocket dimensions and the Olympians were no exception, leaving this land untouched by mortal hands. It's no surprise that Kei fell in love with the place the moment she realized how 'pure' it is.

Even if the real world is cleaner and fresher because of magic and people like the Yokais who purify the Ki in the air it just cannot compare to a place like this.

Unfortunately, our sightseeing was cut short when five presences appeared inside the barrier that separated the more private parts of this pocket Realm

Not that such a barrier would interfere with my way of teleporting "Do I just go through it or... " I looked at Artoria, and she understood and then shook her head; we do need to put on a show after all, and this is such a good chance to display Artorias raw strength.

And hiding my ability to pass through such barriers isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Let me do it" Said Artoria as she readied her trusted spear

Because my method involves the imaginary realm, physical means, such as those commonly used to keep people from teleporting inside them, are ineffective.

Someone who can do that is viewed as a greater threat by factions than just another strong person.

It didn't take long for Artorias to do her part; the barrier simply couldn't withstand the power of Rhongomyniad and she ripped a hole in it.

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS, MORTALS? " Zeus' voice filled the entire Olympus, as if a thunder had landed nearby.

Except for Jalter, all of us were fine, even though the sound was enough to deafen most humans

Her trick is powerful, but it has the same nature as a debuff or a curse, it is useless until it is cast and lands.

We're now up against five Greek Gods, with Artemis seemingly the only female.

I can say she is beautiful, but there is something strange about the feeling of why she is beautiful.

Her skin isn't as smooth as Kei's, her chest isn't as large as Jeanne's, and her body isn't nearly as captivating as Scathach's...

The only thing that can be compared is her aura to Artorias, and I still can't help but give her a 9 even if I would normally give her an 8.

It's not just her; even if the others appear decent in human terms, you end up evaluating them higher.

Perhaps Divinity is doing something I'm not aware of...

I recognize Erebus among the other four because of his resemblance to his sister Nyx and Zeus, the last because he is the one who spoke.

The other two are… an old man with ocean colored clothes, probably… Poseidon? And finally a young black-haired man with orange eyes wearing Greek clothes who I don't recognize.

Artoria took a step forward this time, as the well-known figurehead of our faction "I! should be the one asking that question " she wasn't messing around, her own Divine aura was on full display making the Gods understand that this wasn't a simple talk they could go around using their status.

As she signaled, a black cage appeared in front of us, containing someone they recognized, particularly one of the four male gods who exclaimed "Sister!"

That confirms that he is Erebus

It didn't take long for them to realize why we were here, especially since Zeus was the one who brought us here, making the young Erebus look at Artoria with a murderous glare.

'I found my opponent,' Artoria said in Ahm's head, taunting the hot blooded god "Then come and get her." Erebus may not be that strong, but he wouldn't hold back after seeing his sister, and his lack of strength can be compensated for by releasing Nyx providing Artorias with the fun that she was looking for .

Ahm opened a [Door] for her that led to a nearby inhabited area, and Artoria ran into it while dragging the caged Nyx with her, followed by Erebus, who vanished into the shadows.

Except for Zeus, the rest of the gods were wise enough to see what we wanted the moment each of our members locked into a target and readied their weapons and locked their battle intent into a target.

The first was Kei, who locked into the elderly man with a well-built body and dressed with blue toned clothes, probably Poseidon.

Then came Artemis, who wanted to fight the white-haired Jalter but was stopped by the black-haired youth dressed in Greek clothes. "Leave her to me, Sister," Artemis said, knowing her brother all too well... The God of the Sun and Light liked to cleanse the hearts of people who were going through dark times.

Jalter fitted the bill perfectly.

But this was already a battleground, so as Artemis stood there watching her brother leisurely walk toward the strange-looking door after the White-haired girl... "Huntress, what are you looking at?" A voice spoke up as a flash of red light appeared behind her, too quickly for her to react.

But she wasn't panicking at all, After all… would a Hunter be able to relax when the prey was in sight? "Isn't there a fine line between a Hunter and a Prey?"

"Indeed, Huntress" Scathach smiled at both Artemis and Ahm, causing Artemis to frown just as a black portal with a deep aura of death opened in front of Scathach, transporting her to another realm.

'Was she aware?' Artemis reasoned that detecting such a trap would be difficult, but even if she did, why would she step right into it?

She can only look for clues in the youth in front of her, the only one left from the group.

And she is correct in doing so; Scathach is his teacher, first and foremost.

In this situation, Ahm would be worried if he didn't sense the aura of death or had no idea who was in that realm.

But he was well aware of who was behind that portal.

Scathach excels at defeating both Undead and Divines... Being both only makes things worse for Hades.

Even the Aura of death from the Realm of Death may just make Scathach feel back at home.

But Ahm's thoughts were cut short when Zeus laughed, and Ahm and Artemis, the only ones left, looked at him.

"It's been so long since someone delivered such good stuff to my door," Zeus remarked, revealing his perverted nature as Artemis began to feel chills run down her spine for no apparent reason.

She locked her gaze on the youth in front of her who maintained his harmless smile

But if you look at him you will feel that something is definitely out of place since he felt like a normal human, something completely out of place.

And it wasn't without reason, [Azura mist] was eating all emotions and feelings that tried to come out of his body making him seem like a normal person and only thanks to their 'sixth senses' they could barely feel that something was wrong.

One of the most fundamental parts of the lessons she teaches echoed in her mind along the words she told that woman who went to Hades "Act as a Prey, and they will become Hunters."

But Zeus, who isn't known for his brain, clearly didn't realize this crucial fact. "Brat, if you leave that White-Haired one, I'll let you go... " He began to talk for himself, ignoring the storm that was brewing in front of him.

"No, I'd rather have the Purple-Haired one. Strong ones are fun t-" Zeus had to come to a halt at this point, his instinct told him to do so.

"Zeus. "

He may be an idiot, a pervert, and far too childish for his age and position, but one thing was certain: his strength and battle instincts were undeniable.

Zeus finally saw the youth, or more precisely, recognized the threat it posed, a little too late for the poor Artemis who was trembling and sweating nonstop.

Ahm powers are simple, too simple even.

His Sacred Gear, [Annihilation Maker], and [Ink] from the operator Dusk were the first.

Both are simply used to shape into the forms he desires and to add details such as 'Fearsome,' 'Alive,' or 'Dangerous,' as an artist does with his art.

Then there's his [Mind], mind reading, memory manipulation, his Mindscape, and even though he rarely used them, things like Telekinesis are possible.

Then there's [Pandora's Box] and [Azura Mist], both of which are simple and direct upgrades to those two basic abilities.

[Azura] is simply a better material to mold, and [Pandora]'s Energy is simply more potent.

But there's a catch: [Azura mist] corrodes and eats everything it touches, while [Pandora's Box] corrupts and twists everything it infects.

Their nature prevents them from cooperating without fighting.

Both powers are selfish, which makes their downgraded version more versatile because they can be combined by making the feelings portrayed in the konster, such as 'fearsome,' reflect directly in the mind, causing the 'fearsome' creature to be feared.

It's truly different because creating an ugly monster does not always result in the enemy grimacing, which is something that can be easily accomplished by influencing the opponent's mind.

Manipulating the enemy mind to grimace out of nowhere for no reason, on the other hand, destroys the illusion making it easier for the enemy to realize something is wrong and fight back.

So those two unique powers being so selfish and destructive made it impossible for them to combine… usually.

A wave passed through ahm whole body making it seems as if being corrupted as the bright and colorful cyan and red were replaced with a chaotic black and purple that keeps changing in tones

"Don't make us both regret this. Zeus"

Even the dragon in the painting on his arm had transformed into something only described as eldritch, the ocean replaced with a clouded mess.

Every rule has an exception, and this was theirs; even those selfish and uncooperative powers acted like obedient children at this time.

Because right now, even they fear their maker.